


Happy Birthday!

by Alice_huhhuhhhu



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Accidents, Annoying Gabriel (Supernatural), Birthday, Birthday Party, Birthday Presents, Castiel (Supernatural) is Not Amused, Celebrations, Crack, Cute, Emotional Gabriel (Supernatural), Established Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Family, Feelings, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, France (Country), Gabriel (Supernatural) is a Little Shit, Grocery Shopping, I did not intend to write this much, Idiots in Love, Kissing, M/M, One Shot, Paris (City), Party, Pie, Presents, Restaurants, Romance, Secrets, Surprise Party, Team Free Will, You keep those, as always, how did this get so long, it's a gift, kind of, mentions of French people, mentions of taboulé, relics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 20:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19216609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_huhhuhhhu/pseuds/Alice_huhhuhhhu
Summary: After hearing that angels don't have birthdays, Sam decides to change that. A lot has to be taken care of in order to prepare a surprise party, but a few things just don't go according to plan.





	Happy Birthday!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shaleschnueffler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaleschnueffler/gifts).



> You might have guessed it from the very creative title: this one is for you, my friend! 
> 
> Happy birthday to the best sneakiest smoothest prophet alive! What can I say, I couldn't not NOT write something for you, after all we've been trough together and after how incredibly kind you have been.  
> My writing schedule got messed up by last week's events, but I managed to finish this just in time nonetheless. I never intended to write this much, but then this happened…  
> Basically it's just Sabriel birthday fluff, because I know that these two dorks are your weakness. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy your gift, and I hope all of you people out there will enjoy it too!

The four of them, Dean, Sam, Castiel and Gabriel, had lived together in the bunker for a few months when Sam first brought up the topic. He couldn’t exactly remember why he had even addressed it, since asking an angel for his birthday after being in what Sam would carefully call a relationship with him for a couple of months was slightly awkward. The first reply he got was as reasonable as sad: angels didn’t have birthdays; their creation didn’t have a particular meaning to them whatsoever.

Apparently, Sam must’ve looked so pitiful upon hearing that Gabriel had never had a birthday party in his entire life that the archangel broke out in laughter before explaining that he didn’t need a birthday to celebrate. He said his whole life was one big party, giving Sam a toast with an invisible glass to illustrate his point. The hunter had a different opinion, remembering how Gabriel had died multiple times by now, he’d rather call the angel’s life a dramatic movie or a comedy that wasn’t even funny, but he kept his mouth shut and didn’t mention it again.

 

A few weeks later when they had completed a particularly difficult hunt and the first few bottles had been emptied already, they somehow got back to their discussion. They were in the backseat of a taxi since they had gone into town to celebrate at a bar, and now none of the Winchester brothers was sober enough to drive back the Impala, no matter how much Dean whined about leaving his precious car behind in a parking lot. Technically, Gabriel and Castiel were both capable of driving since angels didn’t get drunk that easily, but a bossy and tipsy Dean didn’t allow his angel to drive, and he’d rather go to hell instead of seeing Gabriel behind the steering wheel.

Out of options, they eventually called a taxi and Dean sat shotgun while Sam and Gabriel took the backseat. Cas had teleported to the bunker already, not wanting to take up an extra seat in the car which would have made it more than cramped and uncomfortable, but for some reason, Gabriel refused to leave the Winchesters’ side.

Well, _Sam’s side_ , to be exact, since Dean had tried to kick him out of the car multiple times and gotten a few awkward looks from the taxi driver before he had given up on it. It was quiet for… approximately ten seconds before Gabe started a conversation with Sam about the most hideous things, obviously entertained by how different said hunter behaved when he was drunk. At some point, the Winchester blurted out how heart-breaking it was that Gabriel never had the chance to celebrate his existence with his brothers and sisters in heaven, that he had never eaten a birthday cake or gotten a present before.

“Oh, I’m sure my relatives would never celebrate my birth” he had mumbled grimly, “I think they wish I had never been in heaven in the first place. And look, I’m doing _just fine_ without them.”

There was a minute of silence in which Sam noticed the freaked-out expression of the driver in the mirror, right next to the face of his brother who seemed too tired to actively follow their conversation. He wanted to say something nice, something compassionate to cheer the angel up again, but all his mind could put together was a weak “they’re missing out on something without you up there.”

The hunter knew it wasn’t enough to make up for all the centuries Gabriel had been called a traitor and a coward for leaving his family, but somewhere in the more sober part of his brain, he had made a decision: Gabriel deserved a birthday. 

They arrived and left the car, not without giving the confused man behind the steering wheel a generous tip, stumbled inside and went to bed immediately. Gabriel observed them for one last time, lost in thought about his own words about heaven and his family. It hadn’t been a lie, it had been brutal honesty, but for his own sake, he hoped that Sam would have forgotten about the conversation the next day and not give him his iconic puppy eyes because he had gotten sentimental just this once.

 

Sam, in contrary to the archangel’s hopes, had _not_ forgotten about it. After he had made sure that there was no Gabriel in sight, he presented his idea to Dean over a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie.

“You’re such a girl” Dean scolded jokingly, reaching for the third piece already. Biting back a sarcastic remark about unhealthy food, Sam rolled his eyes and reminded the older one of the presents he casually brought for Cas every year. It had been silly things like a lighter, a few cassettes or new shoelaces, but Cas had accepted all these things with a big smile and a sincere “thank you”.

“It’s not a birthday present! It’s more of a… an _anniversary gift_ to remember the day he yanked me out of hell. No big deal.”

“Uh-huh.”

Sam didn’t sound convinced, and Dean didn’t look too convinced himself, so he eventually gave in and agreed to help with the preparations for the celebration. They also contacted Cas who, after a lot of explaining what exactly a normal human birthday contained, seemed just as excited as Sam was. In the end, they agreed to choose the first day of April for the party, partly because that would give them a bit of time to prepare, but also for metaphoric reasons. It felt only right to celebrate the trickster’s existence on April fool’s day.

 

Right from the beginning it was clear that they all had different expectations, nearly arguing about what the party should look like. Dean’s first idea was to organize a few strippers and hire a barkeeper, but the thought of that made both Sam and Cas uncomfortable, not to mention that a certain hunter would surely get jealous.

While Sam was trying to find some sort of decoration, he could hear Dean yelling something about cheese in the background, obviously discussing the food with Cas. Frustrated and covered in dust, the younger hunter gave up eventually, realizing that neither of them had celebrated a “normal” birthday in their lives before. Sure, there had been little presents here and there, but a whole celebration? In general, Sam and Dean usually didn’t have a lot of time for birthdays anyway, the family business always came first.

Dean usually spent his birthdays at clubs or bars, dragging Sam along and not coming home before the next day because he had booked a motel room to hook up with some random girl. And Sam? Sam was happy when Dean would let him eat his healthy snacks without constantly mocking him for it on his special day. He had celebrated a few awesome parties back at Stanford, there had even been a huge birthday cake Jess had baked only for him, but that was different. Those had been college parties, basically every student was invited and used them as an excuse to get drunk, although Sam had never really been a fan of that.

Out of nowhere, Gabriel appeared and pinched his arm, making Sam gasp and turn around in surprise. “What are you doing, Samsquatch?”

“Research?” What had happened to his creativity when it came to lying to his loved ones?

“In an old, dusty cupboard filled with _absolutely nothing_?” That sing-song voice made it sound like Gabriel’s usual teasing, but beneath that, Sam could hear the sound of disbelief and suspicion.

“Yes” was all the hunter could come up with. He awkwardly closed the doors of the cupboard, sneezed at the stirred-up dust and left without another word, Gabe staring holes into his back as he closed the door behind himself.

 

They had decided to share the tasks, otherwise they wouldn’t make it in time, although the younger Winchester started to doubt that this had been a good idea when he saw how Dean filled half of the grocery list with names of alcoholic beverages. With an annoyed huff, he snatched the piece of paper from his older brother’s hands, crossing out most of the words and adding some actual ingredients for cooking instead. Normally Dean was better at preparing the food, but Sam didn’t want him to do the shopping, so he would take care of that task on his own. Cas and the older hunter should head out and buy decorations instead, that way, nothing could go wrong… _hopefully_.

Of course they took the Impala, so Sam had to wait until he could use his brother’s car to drive to the grocery store later that day. That left him plenty of time to go to the library and think about a fitting present for Gabriel, because until now, he hadn’t come up with a single idea. Dean had suggested that he should go for “the classics” and wrap himself up in red ribbons, wearing nothing but his underwear. The proposition had been rejected immediately, _thank you very much_. Gabe would probably have died from laughter when he would have tried to untie them again.

Sam knew that his big brother was no big help with this decision, and he probably shouldn’t ask Cas either unless he wanted to her about every single present the angel had received from Dean so far. As much as he had hoped for some peace and quiet, he was almost thankful when the heavy silence of the library was interrupted by none other than the archangel himself who demanded his attention. 

 

When Cas and Dean came back from the store, Sam immediately snuck out to drive off, hoping that the two idiots he called his family had managed to hide the party supplies from Gabriel who was just waiting for a chance to show up and nearly ruin the surprise. Keeping secrets from an archangel, especially from such a curious, persistent and annoying one, was almost impossible.

The hunter managed to get most of the stuff he had written down, but in the end, his shopping cart also contained a generous amount of candy he hadn’t exactly planned to buy in the first place. Back in the Impala, he started to wonder if he was spoiling his boyfriend a little, looking at the backseat covered in chocolate bars, packages of gummy bears and other sweet treats. He probably was. _Whatever_.

The trickster wouldn’t have to waste his mojo on snapping up candy for weeks now, and maybe this could make up for the lack of time Sam spent with Gabe lately. He started feeling guilty about the pain he saw in Gabriel’s eyes when he left the room or avoided him to prepare something with Dean and Cas, although the archangel never complained about it. Not once. However, his otherwise childish behaviour made it obvious that he wasn’t pleased with their secrecy and the whispering that stopped as soon as he entered the war room, greeted by three oh-so-innocent faces.

On the way back to the bunker, Sam couldn’t shake off the feeling that something had gone wrong. Said feeling encouraged him to drive a bit faster than usual, overlook a red traffic light and nearly get hit by a semi-truck he hadn’t seen. Oh thank God, Dean would have killed him for both getting himself and his Baby in danger. It took way too long until the hunter had finally parked the car in front of the entrance, even longer until he had opened the door and put down the three shopping bags, and he made it just in time to figure out where that strange smell came from. 

Cas and Dean were currently hanging up the decorations they had bought earlier when Sam stomped into the war room, obviously forcing himself to stay calm, although his ever-so-present soot-covered bitchface gave away his emotions.

“Why so angry Sammy? Here, have some confetti” Dean joked, throwing a handful of the stuff down on him from the ladder he was currently holding onto. The particles got caught in Sam’s hair and probably wouldn’t get out of there anytime soon, but that minor problem was unimportant to the hunter at the moment. Ignoring the laughter from above, Sam’s hands curled up into fists.

“Alright” he started, dangerously quiet, “who set the kitchen on fire?”

Dean and Cas locked eyes for a few seconds before the angel let out a defeated sigh. “That would be me. My apologies, Sam.”

“Next time… would you mind putting it out? Because you almost burned down our home.”

“Oh.”

“Who burned what down?”

Everyone turned around to look at Gabriel who was leaning against the doorframe. Dean ripped off the garland he had just tried to set up as discreetly as possible while he hid the bucket of confetti behind his back. Because nobody else seemed to be willing to give an answer, Castiel opened his mouth.

“I almost burned down the bunker when I tried to bake a special cake, but I’m not supposed to tell you about it in great detail.”

Behind him, Sam and Dean groaned simultaneously. At least Gabriel didn’t seem to notice what they were planning and only gave them a shrug before he turned around, heading towards what they called the Dean-cave, the only room in the bunker which looked somewhat close to a living room.

“If you need me, I’ll be watching TV. Try not to burn anything else, okay? And hey, Samshine, you look a little toasty. You should take a shower.”

With that, he was out of the room, and the three exhaled in relief. They exchanged knowing looks, knowing that the others had the same thought in mind: they had to get rid of that curious little shit somehow, otherwise he would find out about the surprise party sooner or later. If they didn’t, more heart attacks and distractions were bound to occur, and they would never finish in time. Sam loved the golden-haired archangel, but he could be a serious pain in the ass.

 

In the end, Castiel was chosen to lure the archangel away from the bunker so that Sam and Dean could set up the decorations, mostly because he proved to be “completely and utterly useless” when it came to that task, as the angel stated himself with hanging shoulders and the expression of a kicked puppy on his face. In between countless “I have failed”s and “I will find some way to redeem myself”s, Dean managed to cheer him up enough to approach the task with newly found enthusiasm. Happy about being useful at last, he disappeared, searching for Gabriel.

Tricking an archangel, not to mention one who had spent a long time of his life as a trickster, turned out to be the most difficult task of all of them. For some reason, the stubborn Gabriel insisted on staying on the couch he had settled down on with a blanket and a bowl of popcorn, following the events of a documentary on TV. It was almost as if he _knew_ that something was up, that they tried to get rid of him, and he didn’t even think of making it easy for the three family members by just leaving.

To be honest, Castiel’s approaches couldn’t even be called remotely subtle, maybe that was the reason why Gabriel just grabbed a handful of popcorn and payed more attention to the TV than to the obviously nervous angel standing next to him. Cas wasn’t a good liar, no matter how much he tried to hide his excitement about the important task he had been given, so Gabriel immediately noticed that something about the way the angel played with the belt of his trenchcoat indicated there was something he was hiding.

“Gabriel, we have to go… _somewhere_.”

Mentally, Cas was about to reach for his angel blade and send himself straight to the empty for his creative lie. Something gleamed in these whiskey eyes, something mischievous he had learned to fear, and it made him feel as if Gabriel could see right through him, although those eyes were still glued to the screen.

The archangel’s voice was questioning and cold when he answered, not even bothering to look up from this oh-so-interesting speech about moose.

“To do _what_ , exactly?”

There was an awkward break in which the mating rituals were discussed by the speaker while Castiel desperately tried to come up with a reason to make Gabriel leave already, something a little less stupid than what he currently had on the tip of his tongue, but in the end, his mouth was faster than his brain again.

“… _something_.”

The empty wouldn’t be enough to punish him for his utterly stupid lying skills, Cas decided in between the topic of food and the animal’s habitat, he wanted to erase himself from existence for good and never come back, no matter how much God tried to drag him back to earth to save the planet. If Dean had been there, he would have given him his usual disappointed look along with a pained “seriously, Cas?”, letting him know that he had screwed up for good this time, but instead of the hunter’s defeated voice, there was only the speaker again, talking about the anatomy and strength of these majestic creatures.

A spontaneous idea made Cas straighten up again, now purposefully positioning himself in front of the device to block out the ridiculous talking and to get Gabriel’s full attention. The latter seemed to work out immediately as Gabe looked up, a mix of annoyance and anger visible on his features. Must have been a pretty important documentary to him.

“What?” the archangel finally snapped, trying to look as impressive as he could as he sat there on the couch, several inches below Cas who, apparently, had switched into serious cat-interrogating mode. If he had been a cat, Gabriel thought, he would have confessed immediately under that ice-cold stare. Or, well, he would have been a typical cat and thrown up on his shoes. Probably the second option. Yeah, noticing that those shoes looked like they had been polished recently, he _definitely_ would have chosen the second option, right after chewing on the shoelaces. If he had been a cat, of course.

The cat-interrogator loudly cleared his throat, interrupting Gabriel’s train of thought.

In a matter of seconds, Castiel had come up with a plan that should be at least partly foolproof, or at least foolproof enough to distract the trickster for a few hours so that the Winchesters could finally arrange everything for the party. To add a dramatic mood, the angel pressed his lips together and took an unnecessarily deep breath before he spoke up again.

“It’s… it’s about Sam”

Jackpot. As he had thought, with that one sentence, he had cracked the archangel immediately.

 

It was the day of the party. Sam didn’t know when or how, but Castiel had actually managed to disappear with his brother, which made things a lot easier. And quiet, to be honest. Lonely almost, Sam was still prepared to drop everything on the spot and pretend he wasn’t planning a surprise party, either he was becoming paranoid or he was just so used to the angel watching over him.

Since Cas had burnt most ingredients in his attempt to bake a cake, it was Dean’s turn to save the day by proving his baking skills. About an hour later, the whole bunker smelled like- of course- apple pie, the older hunter had insisted on that. Sam couldn’t deny that the huge pie with candles on top of it looked a bit unusual, but also absolutely delicious.

In the meantime, the younger Winchester hung up the last posters and blew up a few dozen balloons until he believed his lungs would give up any second now. Finally, the hunter carefully wrapped a golden ribbon around the small box in his hands, tracing it lightly with his fingertips before he draped it in the middle of the fully decorated world map table. Gabriel would love it; Sam was sure of that.

 

At the same time, more than four thousand miles away, Gabriel sceptically eyed the huge construction right next to him before his eyes landed on Cas who didn’t even pay attention to the masses of tourists around them, shoving and pushing from all directions, ramming their elbows into their sides and stepping onto their feet. The archangel was close to just kicking them away by force, but one scolding pair of cold blue eyes kept him from doing so.

“Why did you mojo us here again? I thought we were going to get some stuff for a spell to help Sammy out with a case. I have no idea why he would be interested in summoning some random creature at a peaceful time like this, but… I don’t know why I’m standing in front of the Eiffel Tower either, so please, _enlighten me_.” Gabriel’s voice was nearly dripping with sarcasm, his arms crossed in front of his chest to keep himself from smashing his fist into the face of a man who had just dropped his ice cream all over the angel’s jacket.

“Such a waste of food” the trickster commented and dipped a finger into the chocolate-flavored substance to taste it before he snapped away the mess completely. Babbling something incoherent in French, the stranger immediately left him alone, disappearing in the crowd. “French people.” Gabe watched him go with amusement, convinced that Cas was rolling his eyes behind his back by now.

“Maybe we should talk somewhere else.”

The place they suddenly arrived at was what Gabriel would describe as an expensive French restaurant. To be honest, he couldn’t care less about that right now though, he just wanted to know why Cas had poofed him here without an explanation. Grabbing the menu card and scanning it, he waited for Cas to start talking… which didn’t happen.

“Does Sam want some nice and fresh taboulé for dinner or why are we here?”

“I think he would enjoy an exotic salad for dinner, although, in spite of the French name, it’s not particularly a dish from around here since it’s said to come from Syria, but… that’s not the point. We need a few relics and I thought you might want to help instead of bothering Sam even more.”

For a moment, Gabriel thought about just politely declining that task and snapping himself back home, but on second thought, he _had_ gotten on Sam’s nerves recently and an apology, even if it wasn’t a direct one, was in order. What could make the hunter happier than a bit of angelic help to kick some creature’s ass? Alright, he could do that much.

Glad that the archangel didn’t ask many questions, Cas started listing the ingredients they were supposed to find: a few bones, nails from the holy cross… He just hoped that finding all of these relics would take long enough so that Sam and Dean could finish their preparations in time.

“What are they hunting again? That stuff sound suspiciously like book of the damned magic if you ask me” Gabe complained, but stood up nonetheless, not without emptying the glass of wine on the table though. “Come on Columbo, I don’t wanna spend my whole day digging up some dead French guy.”

 

It was evening now, the bright lights in the war room had mostly been switched off so that it was a warm, comfortable atmosphere. Dean had somehow managed to dig up some expensive-looking tableware in the deepest depths of one of the unoccupied rooms, and Sam had- in spite of his brother’s teasing comments- put on a fresh shirt and styled his hair, not that it hadn’t been perfect before anyway. Now they were only waiting for Cas to transport them back here, which should happen every second now.

A flutter of wings announced their arrival, shortly followed by angry shouting as Castiel and Gabriel stumbled into the room and only missed the world map table by a few inches. The fire of the candles flickered dangerously for a moment, a few of them getting blown out by the light breeze, immediately set on fire again by Cas’ powers though. The Winchesters couldn’t hide their beaming smiles in anticipation of the archangel’s reaction.

“I’m sorry kiddo, but that ignorant staff member at the museum wouldn’t let us see the dead guy’s bones- “

Gabriel stopped when he suddenly noticed the decorations and the table the Winchesters had prepared, his jaw almost hitting the ground and his whiskey eyes getting impossibly brighter as he took in every detail. Dean immediately used the opportunity to do what he had been waiting for all day, covering the angel in a snowstorm of confetti until he looked like he had sprinkles all over him. Cas only frowned, mildly pained when he tried to put on one of these ridiculous party hats and the pesky rubber band snapped up against his clenched jaw with full force, but he was smiling, nonetheless.

Gabe, still not understanding the scene in front of him, turned around to face Sam, one of his eyebrows raised in confusion. “Did I forget about something? What date is it? Christmas? New Year’s Eve?”

His eyes finally locked with Sam’s, so the hunter took that as a sign that it was his turn to answer the question. He couldn’t see how the realization kicked in once he had wrapped his arms around the shorter man in front of him and whispered “Happy birthday”, but by the way Dean started laughing behind his back and actually began to _sing_ , he knew the surprise had obviously succeeded. Cas joined in, and so did Sam. It was the most horrible and dissonantly sung birthday serenade in existence, but they couldn’t care less.

Taking a step back, the tall hunter pushed the archangel towards the table which was covered in confetti, balloons and the drinks and snacks they had compiled.

“It’s a human custom to blow out candles and hope for something good to happen” Cas informed him from behind, so Gabe did exactly that, closing his eyes as he blew out all the candles at once. It seemed silly to him to wish for something, _him_ , _an_ _archangel_ , knowing that these childish things wouldn’t work out, but he made a wish anyway. Just to make sure. For good luck only, of course, not because he actually had something specific in mind that involved Sam who had gone through the trouble of preparing this celebration for him. No, it was definitely for good luck that he hoped for his boyfriend to kiss him right now like nobody was watching.

As if by command, the last few lamps that were still illuminating the room gave out with a quiet buzzing sound, turning everything into back. Footsteps left the room, so one of them was probably checking for the cause of the power outage, Gabriel concluded. He couldn’t see a thing and was about to complain about the situation when he felt someone’s breath in his neck, sending shivers down his spine, followed by lips ghosting over the shell of his ear down to the corner of his mouth. Finally Sam’s lips were on his and _for dad’s sake_ , this birthday-wish-thing truly seemed to work.

For a brief moment, he wondered if he should have wished for something else, like to rule the world maybe, or for a discount at every candy shop on the planet, but then again… this was perfect. He didn’t need anything else, this incredibly kind-hearted, caring and freakishly tall hunter was all he could ever wish for.

The moment was over way too soon, Sam returned to the position he had been standing in before just in time when the lights were switched on, not noticing how Castiel gave him a knowing look from the side. Dean returned and took his place next to Cas, pointing towards the table with a smirk. “I think my brother got a little something for you there.”

Still panting a bit rapidly after the kiss, Gabe reached out for the tiny box. He untied the ribbon to lift up the lid, surprised by what he found inside: a single key, nothing else but a simple silver key with a keyring attached to it. The archangel fished it out of the box, searching for any kind of clue or meaning behind it, but he didn’t understand. Why would Sam gift him _a normal key_ , of all things? Was he being pranked, as a payback for the tricks he had pulled on the Winchesters so far?

Sam looked almost shy when he opened his mouth, explaining, “I know you can pop up here whenever you want to, and you don’t exactly need to get through the front door, but…”

Oh. _Oh_. It finally started to dawn on the angel that this wasn’t just any random key. It was a key that opened the doors of the bunker, the entrance ticket to the secret hideout of Team Free Will, and Sam gave it to him, entrusted this key to him, to let him know that he was welcome here. He was now officially part of the team, able to come and go how he pleased, no longer having to feel like an intruder when he snuck past the warding to materialize out of thin air to scare his favorite moose. It was also an offer. He could stay if he wanted to, no strings attached, he could make this bunker his home.

_Wow_. Now he really was speechless, and not even Dean’s sarcastic comment which he would usually have a thousand fitting snarky remarks for could change that. The trickster had to admit it, this was just sappy, but he couldn’t, _didn’t_ want to hide the tears of happiness that started to fill his eyes. None of his three new family members would ever know how much this whole thing meant to him. Not only the key, not only the kiss, but the whole party, as imperfect and hilarious it was, meant so much more to him than words could express.

With a polite nod, he turned towards the small group. “Sam. Dean-o. Brother. Thank you so much, you guys are the best.”

While Dean started to pass around the pie and opened a few bottles of beer, Gabe realized that he had been totally wrong about the whole birthday thing. His whole life may have been a big party in his eyes, but he could get used to this. The way Dean gave a toast with a short but cheerful speech, the way how Cas patted his shoulder a bit awkwardly with a fond smile, the way Sam occasionally nodded at him and pointed at the small silver key dangling from the archangel’s fingers because he just couldn’t put it away just yet… he decided that he could definitely get used to it.

Already looking forward to next year, he celebrated with them, the sacred nail of the holy cross in his back pocket long forgotten.

 

 _Almost_ forgotten, until later that day, when the party had ended and Gabriel and Sam had disappeared into the hunter’s room, not without giving Dean a meaningful wink. They fell into bed right after the door slammed shut, taking turns to free each other from the layers of clothing on their bodies, when Sam suddenly withdrew his hand from the archangel’s back pocket with a hiss. Pulling out the sharp object, he gave his boyfriend a suspicious look.

“What exactly were you doing in Paris again?”

“Shut up and kiss me, Sam.”

**Author's Note:**

> Here I go. Despite the fact that I always say I’m not good with words, this will be way too long anyway xD
> 
> First of all: I hope you enjoyed this. It was pretty last minute, although planned on doing this piece for months now. I took my time planning it out and sneaking some insiders in there, but then the French people happened and I couldn’t care less about common sense anymore.
> 
> Everything we did so far, every conversation, every headcanon, every joke we made will always have a special place in my heart. I feel like it was clear from the start: Chuck created us to find each other, brainmate. We’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together, we went through heaven and hell side by side over the time we’ve been friends, and I don’t regret a single second of it. Thanks to you, I found the courage to be myself and stop caring about what any dumbasses would say or not say, and with that, I can say that you changed and improved my whole life. 
> 
> I’ve never had such a kind and loyal friend I could share every secret, every problem, every fear with, and I admire you so much for being such an incredibly kind and caring person. You’ll never know how much you mean to me, because it’s more than words could ever express.  
> Trust me when I’m saying that on some days, you were the one who helped me to keep my head above water, along with the fandom that connected us in the first place. I have no idea where I would be without you right now, but I know I wouldn’t even be half as happy. 
> 
> Until today I can’t be happier that I read your fanfic back then, and how I deserve such a friend like you is something I still can’t understand. What we have is so important to me, from sharing this awesome fandom to personal stuff, sometimes it feels like I’ve known you forever. I’m proud to call you my friend, my family, my shelter, the one person I can trust with everything. The person who understands my references, the one person who never let me down.  
> You’re the reason why I’m here in the first place, trying to form sentences in some note underneath a fanfiction that I wrote and uploaded. Without you, this would have never been possible, like so many other things I only dared to do because I am sure you support me. And honestly, if I’ve got you on my side, there’s no need to be afraid of criticism. Because you’ve got me, and I’ve got you. 
> 
> Honestly, I could go on like this forever, but I know that no matter how much I write, no text would be long enough to cover all the things I want to tell you. The appreciation you deserve couldn’t even be covered on a whole book. Still, I just wanted you to know that you are the best friend I could ever wish for. 
> 
> So for all that and so much more, from the bottom of my heart: THANK YOU. 
> 
> Regards, your ex-nephilim demon ;)  
> PS: If you want me to do anything specific for you, any kind of fanfic, headcanon, artwork, whatever, just tell me and I will do my best!


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